


love it too much

by The_IPRE



Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Beaujester Week, Day 1: Battle Couple/First Kiss, F/F, Minor Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-24
Updated: 2019-07-24
Packaged: 2020-07-19 05:14:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,766
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19968607
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_IPRE/pseuds/The_IPRE
Summary: Beau and Jester make a good team.





	love it too much

**Author's Note:**

> Is this title of this from the Hozier lyric generator? Maybe So.

Beau could take a hit.

It was pretty much her job in the group, taking and dealing punches without complaining, but when a fuck-off huge demon kicked her in the chest, it was bound to hurt.

She was down on one knee, hand clutching her side as she tried to get some of her wind back because  _ fuck _ , that really took it out of her, and then there was a pat on her shoulder and she felt the warm, almost sparkling spread of healing magic through her bones. Jester skipped past with a smile, still grinning even as the demon ahead swiped its talons towards Fjord. When she raised her hands, though, her expression had a concentrated tightness to it that was, Beau could admit it to herself, pretty hot.

A sudden burst of light glinted off of Jester’s bared teeth as her spiritual weapon made an abrupt entrance onto the material plane, and Beau pulled herself back to her feet. She swiped her hand down her face, mindless of the blood that smeared across her skin, and she found a matching grin had made its way onto her own face.

With a spin of her own she twirled her staff, and it came down across the demon’s knee with a sickening  _ crack _ that would make anybody wince. A gigantic cat paw from Caleb raked the back of its head a few moments later and the demon turned, letting out a grumbling hiss that echoed around the room.

The thing’s growl was cut off when an eldritch blast crashed into its throat, with a second flying inches over its shoulder to splatter against the low stone ceiling. Shards of rubble came down in a spray of dust, and the cloudy air was filled with crackling Infernal as the demon let out what Beau would guess was a string of curses. She might not actually know the language like Jester, but she’s cussed enough in her life to know the general feel of it.

The hulking form seemed to be slowing, ichor-like blood pouring from its wounds as it hobbled on injured legs, but the rest of the Mighty Nein didn’t seem to be faring too well either. Caduceus was kneeling next to a recently downed Nott, an unnerving wrinkle in his forehead as his hands glowed with healing magic, and Beau dove back into the fray despite her own injuries. 

The sooner this battle ended, the better, and she liked to think that she was something of a closer.

There was a pain in her ribs as she ran, flexing her aching fingers, and when the demon bent down to take a swipe at Caleb she swung her own fist up into its jaw. “No you fucking don’t,” she muttered, feeling her knuckles connect with a pressure point that would hopefully freeze the thing in its tracks.

Its head was knocked back before the rest of its body seized up, muscles tensing and straining against the skin, and Beau let out a “Hell yeah!”

“Beau, watch out!” Jester called over, her words breaking through the small moment of victory. Beau looked over just in time to see Jester’s hands raised, expression set in something close to a glare, and then there was a whistling through the air that made her glance up.

A giant spectral lollipop with whirring and sparking shards of glittering metal came crashing down on the back of the stunned demon’s head, and there was the cracking of what was probably bone. Beau barely had time to jump back before the thing fell to the ground in front of her feet, an arrow sticking out of one eye and its tongue lolling out with a disgusting sound as it slapped against the dusty ground. If she looked she could see a variety of fluids oozing out of its cracked skull, but she  _ didn’t  _ want to see that so she pointedly looked away towards where Jester was, because that kill deserved a congratulations-

And then the wind was knocked out of her as Jester jumped up into her arms, giddy with victory as she laughed with a smile that lit up the dim cavern. 

Almost any other time Beau wouldn’t be complaining, because she had finally admitted to herself that she cared about Jester in a different way than she did the rest of her friends. She was close to all of them, even if she might have difficulty calling them family sometimes, but Jester...

Well, Jester was always giving off a sort of light, dancing through life with smiles and tricks up her sleeves, and even when she wasn’t quite so cheerful she was achingly  _ herself _ . She stood for what she believed in and she believed in her friends, and it didn’t hurt that she could probably bench press any one of them. As Jester rested her arms across Beau’s shoulders, her face was so close that Beau could almost count her indigo freckles. and she could pick out the wisping strands of navy hair stuck to her forehead with sweat and blood. When Jester opened her eyes, Beau’s chest got tighter as her breath caught and she felt her heart trip in its already fast beating.

In almost any other situation she would want to let the moment go on for as long as she could, but in most other situations she didn’t have aching ribs that were probably broken. Jester’s legs tightened around her waist to keep from slipping, and Beau couldn’t stop the wince and hiss that came through her bitten teeth. 

Jester’s eyes widened even further at that. “Oh Traveler, he really fucked up your chest didn’t he? Here, let me...” She trailed off as she rested her hands on the sides of Beau’s face, her full body weight still supported by Beau, and  _ that _ was nearly enough to give her a lesbian heart attack. The fabric of Jester’s gloves was almost surprisingly smooth against her cheeks, even with the scuff of calloused fingertips, and without realizing it her eyes fluttered closed as healing magic pulsed into her skin.

She felt more than heard the click of her ribs shifting, and when she looked at Jester it was like she had suddenly learned how to breathe all over again. She was grinning sharp-toothed and soft, still high with the adrenaline of dealing a finishing blow, and Beau sensed the moment that they both realized Jester’s hands were still cradling her face.

Jester’s thumb brushed against her cheekbone with almost unbearable softness, and Beau instinctively leaned into it. Behind her she could hear the rest of the party shuffling, Caleb checking in with Nott and Fjord saying something to Cad, but she couldn’t really give a shit to pay them any more attention than that. Jester was still looking at her, head tilted slightly, and she bit her lip for a moment in thought. Beau shifted to hold her more securely, but all of her attention was still on Jester when she started talking. 

“So, I don’t really know, but, like, is it weird that I kind of maybe want to kiss you right now?” Jester’s eyes kept flickering, glancing like a butterfly across Beau’s face and the cavern around them and then finally settling back on Beau’s eyes, a purple flush glowing across her cheeks. Seemingly without realizing it she had started to drum her fingers along Beau’s skin, restless energy pouring out here as she kept her eye contact steady in the weighted pause between them.

Beau was a bit stunned into silence, because, really? She had kept her own feelings bottled up what with how Jester had seemed to have a case of the puppy-dog eyes for Fjord, and even if she seemed to have started to have some doubt in that arena lately it wasn’t like Beau had ever thought that anything could really happen between them. Jester was Jester and Beau was Beau, and for a while that had been a good enough explanation for why romance between them was more a dream than a possibility. Jester was loud and beautiful and so full of life and Beau was just trying to get through things without being even more of a mess, but then as Jester’s grip on her face seemed to loosen Beau let herself realize that she might have been reading things wrong the whole time.

She took a breath, and Jester’s hands froze where they were. “I don’t know if it’s weird. I mean, hell, have you met me? I don’t know what’s weird, but-” And Jester was looking at her, and Beau was looking back, and she swallowed – when did her throat get so dry? – and smiled before continuing. “Well, I wouldn’t be opposed.” Some itching energy made her want to keep talking, but then Jester was leaning in and she looked determined so Beau shut up.

Jester’s nervous smile was back in full force but she kept her hands on Beau’s face, tilting her head up and giving her a kiss that was more of a peck than anything else. 

She pulled back and was already giggling, giddy and full of so much  _ something _ that Beau could practically feel it where they touched, and then Jester pressed their foreheads together. Beau leaned up and their noses were brushing, and Jester’s eyes fluttered closed a moment before her’s as their lips connected again.

Beau’s breath was caught in her chest and the world seemed frozen as Jester kissed her back, and if it weren’t for the hands on her face and the remnants of pain in her chest she would think that she was dreaming. 

Then Jester was pulling back, and when Beau opened her eyes she saw she was smiling, and she realized that she was smiling too, dumb and light as their foreheads came back together again. There was a weight where their breaths mingled, and then Jester widened her eyes with a laugh. “Beau, it looks like you only have one eye right now.”

It wasn’t even that funny but Beau found herself laughing, and there was a twinging in her ribs but she didn’t care, and she knew that she was going to have to put Jester back down eventually but she didn’t quite care about that either, because for now Jester was in her arms, head thrown back laughing, and she felt like she could start spinning because, well.

Jester had kissed her, and even with the pain and the grime of battle, she would give anything to make that moment go on a little longer.


End file.
